The England v Costa Rica kick-off has been suspended with lightning and rain threatening the World Cup 2026 warm-up friendly in Orlando.
The Three Lions were due to kick-off at 4pm local time (9pm BST), but the weather has pushed the start back, with the tournament due to begin in 24 hours on Thursday, 11 June.
England were due to arrive at the Inter&Co Stadium, home of MLS side Orlando City SC, at 3:30pm local time (8:30pm BST), according to BBC Sport, to complete their final stop before Thomas Tuchel’s side travel to their Kansas City training base.
Then the countdown begins to the first game in Group L against Croatia in Dallas, with the Three Lions one of the favourites to win the trophy.
But after a deluge less than two hours before kick-off, the friendly looked in doubt, with large pools of rain settling on the pitch.
But the water has been cleared quickly, leading to an expected pitch inspection scheduled for around 3.15pm local time, with the the kick-off time likely to be delayed by at least an hour.
Fans have started to enter the stadium, with the heavy rain subsiding.
While Inter&Co Stadium staff could be seen drying pools of water with dryers to quickly remove doubt over the match taking place on the eve of the World Cup 2026.
Tuchel opted to start with Harry Kane, with the Bayern striker flanked by Noni Madueke and Anthony Gordon. While Reece James and Nico O’Reilly start either side of Ezri Konsa and John Stones, with Jude Bellingham operating just ahead of Declan Rice and Elliott Anderson.
Bukayo Saka is on the bench, despite his fitness issues, with Tuchel admitting he has concerns over the Arsenal star: “We still have to take a little bit of care for Bukayo who had an injury in March and carried it through to club.
“He made himself available at the end of the season and did so brilliantly but he was managed in between matches; that continues a bit at the moment. We are building him up.”
